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Fallout from illegal August strike: NP Fires 68 Workers
Published:
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Geisha Kowlessar
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State-owned fuel distributor National Petroleum Marketing Company Limited (NP) has fired 68 employees for what it described as an “illegal work stoppage” at the company’s gantries at the NP’s head office in Sea Lots, Port-of-Spain, in August.
They were part of a group of 85 workers who had engaged in an Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union-sanctioned work stoppage from August 13-15. Their actions had resulted in panic buying throughout the country and all 85 employees were initially suspended with pay while the company investigated the matter. Following disciplinary hearings, however, the company yesterday terminated the employment of 68 of the group for breaches of their contracts.
In a one-page statement issued yesterday, NP’s acting corporate communications manager Rae Gilbert said individual disciplinary hearings were held on October 7 and 10 and each suspended employee was given the opportunity to respond to the following charges:
• refusal to perform job functions
• participation along with others in an illegal work stoppage
• unauthorised absence from work stations
Work stoppages such as this one, Gilbert said, have resulted in severe losses to the company over the past two years. “Over the last two years there have been 20 work stoppages by the OWTU at NP. A single work stoppage equates to $9.5 million in loss of revenue per day to NP,” she added. The employees were represented by the OWTU during the hearings. NP said the OWTU cited health and safety issues as the reasons for their members withholding their labour during the specified period.
“However, at the time of the illegal work stoppage, the OWTU cited privatisation as the reason for their illegal activity, as documented in several interviews given by the OWTU to the media,” Gilbert said in her statement. NP also requested an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) body in July, which took place on August 28 and 29 and September 3, 11 and 12 this year.
“The company is in receipt of the OSH report which did not trigger the issuance of an improvement or a prohibition notice, as is mandated in cases of serious or imminent danger in accordance with Section 74 of the OSH Act,” Gilbert said. Saying NP remains committed to the practice of good industrial relations, Gilbert said the company’s focus was to ensure the timely delivery of fuel to service station networks, airports, industrial customers, including the Port Authority and Powergen, hospitals and the protective services.
“We have been able to maintain a non-disrupted operation in spite of the illegal work stoppage initiated by the OWTU last August,” she said. “NP has actually doubled the efficiency of its deliveries since this illegal work stoppage and is committed to ensuring its continuity.”
A source said last night that OWTU officials were in emergency discussions in the wake of NP’s action yesterday. Calls to OWTU president Ancel Roget and other members of his executive thus went unanswered when the T&T Guardian sought a comment on the matter.
Privatisation complaints
The NP workers had protested over what they claimed was an attempt by management to privatise the company. Wayne Leacock, OWTU’s branch president at NP Port-of-Spain, told members of the media in August that the walkout was a show of the employees’ concerns over management’s award of a $394,000 contract to a private company to conduct loading on the gantry.
Leacock was quoted as saying, “Since the appointment of the chief executive and this board the workers have been fearful for the security of their jobs and their future. “The model that the company is taking now is one of outsourcing the jobs and the workers are fearful that they could lose their jobs through outsourcing.” The company denied then that any such move was being made.
Leacock had also referred to two permanent employees at the Pointe-a-Pierre branch who were dismissed because they refused to train managers to load the trucks at the gantry. Those managers in turn would train people coming from private companies to do the workers’ jobs. “The workers at NP are here to do their jobs and will not stand by and allow this precedent to be set where any contract labour will take over our jobs,” Leacock added.
He said the company’s collective agreement stated that no job done by workers should be contracted out if it would demote or make those workers’ jobs redundant.
NP said the OWTU cited health and safety issues as the reasons for their members withholding their labour during the specified period.
“However, at the time of the illegal work stoppage, the OWTU cited privatisation as the reason for their illegal activity, as documented in several interviews given by the OWTU to the media,” Gilbert said in her statement. NP also requested an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) body in July, which took place on August 28 and 29 and September 3, 11 and 12 this year.
"The company is in receipt of the OSH report which did not trigger the issuance of an improvement or a prohibition notice, as is mandated in cases of serious or imminent danger in accordance with Section 74 of the OSH Act,” Gilbert said.
stev wrote:that is why it have roadblock / traffic / protest by d beetham? NP workers effin up?
stev wrote:bumper to bumper traffic from Aranguez to NP.
a lot of police along the beetham....not sure if it is really a protest at NP or if police checking vehicles. lol
info courtesy of waze live map
https://www.waze.com/livemap
edit: seeing bumper to bumper traffic by Barataria....ending by d gas station.
Minister behind NP firings, says Roget
Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget yesterday blamed a high-ranking Cabinet minister for the firing of 68 employees at the state-owned fuel distributor, National Petroleum Marketing Company (NP). Speaking at a press conference yesterday at the OWTU’s office, Henry Street, Port-of-Spain, Roget said the move could spell trouble at NP. “NP is responsible for delivering fuel to the motoring public in the country and this is fuel for a lot of confusion and bacchanal going forward,” he said.
The workers were fired on Monday for what NP described was an “illegal work stoppage” in August at the company’s Sea Lots, Port-of-Spain. Roget yesterday claimed the union had good information that an unnamed “high-ranking official in Cabinet instructed the board (of NP) to take the type of action that we are seeing playing out here.”
He said the official told the board to go ahead with the action, since the Government was ready to pay up even if the employees go to the Industrial Court with the matters and win. He said workers who were off-duty were also caught up in the “broad brush approach” because NP wanted to “manners” workers in accordance with political instructions. The union’s attorneys, Roget added, have already been consulted and efforts were being made to have the workers reinstated with full compensation.
Describing the firing as a frontal attack on the OWTU, Roget said the majority of fired workers were People’s National Movement (PNM) supporters. “NP,” he charged, “used political victimisation and identified the majority of NP workers as PNM supporters and took this action against the workers.” The timing of the sacking also was questioned, as he charged it was no coincidence it took place after the local government elections.
On the issue of privatisation, Roget claimed NP was contracting out positions which the fired workers once held. This decision, he added, also was supported by the People’s Partnership Government. He added: “We hold Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Cabinet responsible for the onslaught that was unleashed on these workers and in due course they will be made to pay for that... rest assured. “And, in fact, the payment for all the attacks on workers. It has already started.”
He also showed a report, purportedly produced by the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Agency, dated September 23, in which an inspection was done at NP. “The inspection was done on August 28, 29 and September 3, 11 and 12 this year. That report cited some 19 (incidents of) non-compliance on the part of NP,” Roget said. In a release on Monday, however, NP claimed it had passed the OSH inspections.
joker wrote:Hey guys ....fyi ....Roget cannot sanction a strike.....the Executives of a Union cannot initiate it....the officers or a worker or a group of workers can down tools at the blink of an eye ....and further more.....the The court will rule in the workers favour!
joker wrote:Do u know a worker has the right to refuse to work under unsafe conditions and employers try all avenues to contract out jobs normally performed by permanent employees.....but bad publicity for the company ...
Will always be countered with negative actions from the employees....
Go figure....and no I dont have a collective agreement.....
UML wrote:Wouldn't Roget or a union rep be part of the disciplinary discussions/hearing before suspension and termination?!!
De Dragon wrote:joker wrote:Do u know a worker has the right to refuse to work under unsafe conditions and employers try all avenues to contract out jobs normally performed by permanent employees.....but bad publicity for the company ...
Will always be countered with negative actions from the employees....
Go figure....and no I dont have a collective agreement.....
Yes, but they were fired after their own union rep stated that they were striking because of plans to "privatize" NP. Now the story is being changed by the same union rep to obviously garner sympathy. I mean, who would fault workers for protesting about HSE issues? Illegal strike is illegal strike, unless the idea of having to work according in a privatized environment is hazardous?
joker wrote:De Dragon wrote:joker wrote:Do u know a worker has the right to refuse to work under unsafe conditions and employers try all avenues to contract out jobs normally performed by permanent employees.....but bad publicity for the company ...
Will always be countered with negative actions from the employees....
Go figure....and no I dont have a collective agreement.....
Yes, but they were fired after their own union rep stated that they were striking because of plans to "privatize" NP. Now the story is being changed by the same union rep to obviously garner sympathy. I mean, who would fault workers for protesting about HSE issues? Illegal strike is illegal strike, unless the idea of having to work according in a privatized environment is hazardous?
well some workers have the "lick balls " syndrome others don't ... if they strike under the guise of safety i don't see a problem ... knowing what long term effects employees endure wen working for a Privatized company ..
eg ...RBC ...Formerly RBTT .... and the long delays in gaining a recognition certificate ....
imagine some companies calling in Cariri ...during a shut down to test for emissions
high levels of hazardous gases- man blacking out / hospitalized and nothing is being done because they are contractors ...
but when a company is privatized ...most of the times they are represented by the same unions
whom they were with previously
but some of the uneducated if their employment is terminated will opt not to carry the matter to MOL ... cuz they are of opinion "me eh ha nutn to get " ..." i not in no union" ...
however the onus is on them to follow thru with the matter
While I agree there are the arsehole employees who shelter under the union's umbrella .... there are other actions that are warranted and justified .... we on the outside might not be able to understand why they act the way they do but from history and political climate we can interpret and get the Jist of things ....
UML wrote:Wouldn't Roget or a union rep be part of the disciplinary discussions/hearing before suspension and termination?!!
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